for being here. nbc newscorrespondentrichardengelandhis crew are out of syria after a harrowing ordeal. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. megyn: new details on an nbc reporter captured in syria. he's describing how the rebels kept his team blindfold and tied up. he says they were not physically beaten but suffered a lot of psychological torture including threats of being killed. >> reporter: richard engel says they were escorted by a group of rebels in an area they thought was controlled by rebels when armed gunmen sympathetic to the government jumped out, heavily armed, they grabbed them and put them in a container truck. he says his cap towards were supporting the syrian government and executed one of the rebel escorts on the spot. he says they were taken to a series of safe house and they were blindfold and bound. >>

alert out of syria this morning where nbc is announcing that foreigncorrespondentrichardengelandhis production team are now fee and unhurt after getting captured there last thursday. it comes as opponents of president assad launch a new offensive near the capital of damascus. leland vittert joins me live in jerusalem. leland, an incredibly dramatic story how they gained their freedom. >> reporter: no question about it. these guys were held for five days of the moved from safe house to safe house by pro-assad gunmen. that's when the pro-assad gunmen who had the nbc crew in the back of a minivan, if you will, were driving down the road, got to rebel check point there was a firefight ensued and that's when richard engel and his crew escaped out of the van. said literally help us, we're american journalists get us to safety. the rebels involved did just that. it was on a road similar to that engel and his crew were taken by gunpoint what they presume to be pro-government, pro-president assad forces, shiite militia members holding them. during the time they were being held they were told

we'll startwithrichardengelisout of captivity. he was held by a pro-government militia. evidently taken at gunpoint what they thought was rebel-held territory. blindfolded. went through mock executions while in captivity. during that time they were moved from safe house to safe house. they were inside northern syria. at one point who were holding them had his entire crew in the back of a minivan. they were moving to one location and another. that was when there was rebel check point they happened upon. that is where the firefight happened that eventually freed engel. everyone got out of the van. he said they need help. the rebels got them inside of turkey inside the safe zone. five days of captivity. not every story inside syria with journalists end up this way. five journalists are killed. one american missing inside of syria as the situation continues to deteriorate. the latest video coming out of syria shows the momentum may have flipped. used to be the government hunting the rebels. now it is the rebels hunting the government. the government moved into much more def